English Woman Caught on Camera Throwing Cat in Garbage Can

With weird, offbeat, and strange web videos a routine for many people these days, it seems hard for any news to seem truly shocking these days, but Mary Bale's actions may leave an impression. A CCTV camera video caught Bale casually walking up to a tall garbage bin and, amazingly, tossing an apparently distressed cat inside, as seen on the Guardian. The video has made the rounds on YouTube and other media outlets, provoking an outcry and anger from animal lovers in the UK and around the world.

The cat, a four-month-old Tabby named Lola, spent 15 hours trapped inside the garbage bin before being rescued, and is apparently unharmed. The incident is seemingly all the more odd since Lola was not Bale's cat, but belongs to Stephanie and Darryl Mann, who called on viewers of the video not to "take matters into their own hands."

As the RSPCA initially began an investigation into the bizarre incident, Bale was promptly identified and quickly issued an apology in which she seemed not to be able to explain why she carried out the odd and stunning act. Saying "I cannot explain why I did this," Bale characterized the incident as a "split-second misjudgment that has got completely out of control." Bale claims that she did not "intend to cause any distress to Lola or her owners," according to the Guardian.

As reported on Buzzfeed, photographs surfaced of the Coventry woman being taken into police custody, though the website claims that she is being placed under their protection in repose to death threats she has received since the video originally surfaced. It is unclear if she is being arrested or if charges will be filed in relation to the incident.

Unfortunately, though Bale's case is the most recent animal cruelty incident to receive media attention and buzz, it is not the first and likely won't be the last. As disturbing as the incident is, anyone daring enough to search through YouTube or other video outlets can find truly repugnant scenes of outright sadism. One of the most disturbing in recent memory was a 2007 video posted by a Texas man who allegedly tied up a cat and then allowed his pit bull to viciously attack and kill the defenseless animal. The video, which was posted to MySpace and Youtube, aided a police investigation and resulted in an intentional guilty plea and eight-month sentence for 17-year-old Paul Miguel.

It's difficult to say why cases like Bale's make international headlines, yet viscous cruelty perpetrated by the likes of Miguel goes largely unreported. Teenagers as well as adults throughout the world post videos of acts of animal cruelty online, and websites like YouTube are constantly removing these videos and informing authorities as per their policy on a regular basis. Perhaps the fact that Bale, a bank worker, seems an unlikely perpetrator of such an act makes the incident all the more noteworthy. The fact that the cat survived the ordeal unharmed also makes the story palatable to a larger audience. Time will tell how Bale is remembered by the public.